David Walls is executive director of The Family Foundation in Kentucky. He acknowledges that parents face a stressful task these days.
"A lot of families across this nation are dealing with the task of protecting their children from a wide range of online harms, including pornography," he tells AFN. "… Very sobering statistics tell us that the average age of first exposure to pornography for kids is somewhere between the ages of 7 and 13."
That's why Walls is thankful that their General Assembly has sent House Bill 278 to Governor Andy Beshear after it passed unanimously – first in the Senate (36-0), then in the House (96-0).
Simply put, according to Walls, the bill requires online pornographic websites to age-verify.
"[We want] to ensure that children don't have access to this harmful, harmful content," he explains. "And we're thankful that it was a bipartisan vote in both chambers."
And he's encouraged as well. "There's more to be done in Kentucky to protect kids online," he adds, "but we're thankful for this important step to protect kids from harmful online content."
Walls is hopeful Governor Beshear will sign the measure into law before the General Assembly reconvenes for two days on April 12.
At least nine other states have passed similar legislation, including one in Texas that was recently upheld by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
